Monday, December 19, 2016

Hosting holiday parties is by far our favorite part of the winter season. Menu planning is a passion and outdoing the year before is a must! This year, we're over-the-top excited to serve the MVP—Most Valuable Platter—ordered from Murray's Cheese. If you haven't sampled their products before, we highly recommend checking out the website here. Our order was placed on Monday and arrived on Wednesday in a sleek wooden crate, still cold in the box. The shipping speed was amazing, but we can't say enough about the high quality of their meats and cheeses. As soon as we unpacked it, we both had the same thought...this would make an exceptional holiday gift, too!

Murray's Most Valuable Platter is certainly decadent for a dinner party. We were really pleased with the portions in this package, which will easily feed 8-10 guests. It contains 2.5 pounds of cheese, serving crackers, olives, and 10 ounces of meat. Murray's will ship the assortment with or without a wood packing crate. If you're ordering it as a gift for someone else, definitely opt for the crate. It takes the presentation up a notch. Here's a list of what the MVP includes below:

NUTTY Gruyere

EARTHY Clothbound Cheddar

TANGY Humboldt Fog

CREAMY Grazier's Edge

SHARP Point Reyes Blue

SILKY Prosciutto San Daniele

MEATY Wild Boar

PLUMP Castelvetrano Olives

FRUITY Jan's Farmhouse Crisps - fantastic holiday flavor!

CRUNCHY Urban Oven Crackers

Since we plan to use this Most Valuable Platter next week for our holiday party, we created a test run during a small dinner party this past weekend. We prepared an easy holiday charcuterie tray in under five minutes using the crate lid itself to present the contents. Before we even asked our guests for their opinions, they commented on the cheeses, particularly the Grazier's Edge Lone Grazer and the Cave Aged Gruyere. The prosciutto was a big win as well and went very quickly.

We recommend putting a small portion of each item aside for yourself before serving, because it's very likely your guests will beeline for this platter! We loved this Murray's Cheese set so much that we are looking forward to trying the Weekend at Murrays and La Dolce Vita sets for our upcoming dinner parties.